Hand-brake for railway-cars.



Kx WILLEAMS.

HAND BRAKE FoR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.20.19I7.

Patented Dec. 24, 1918.

l VEN TOR.

WI T NESSES:

UNE a KEITH WILLIAMS, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssIGNoR 'ro'WILLIAivi H.IVIINER, or

CHAZY, NEW YORK.

HAND-BRAKE FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

To all wlw/nt it' may concern vBe it known that I, KEITH VILLIAMs, acitizen of the United- States, residing at Chicago. in the county ofCook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and usefulln'iprovement in Hand-Brakes for Railway-Cars-of which the following isa full, clear, concise, and exact description,

reference being had to the 'accompanying drawings, forming a partof thisspecification.

This invention relatesto improvements in hand brakes for railway cars. Al

An ofbyect of the invention is tol provide a simple 'and eliicienthandbrakey more par-v ticularly adapted for use on rail-way cars and whereina rotatable drum or other chain tightening member is mounted within alcasing without the useI of any long bolt, such as has heretofore beenfound necessary, to thereby decrease the cost of production.

In the drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a sideelevation of a brake embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a vierticalsectional view, taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isa vertical, sectional view but at right angles to that of Fig. 2 andtaken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. VAnd Fig. l is a horizontal,`section-al view, taken substantially on t-he line -l of Fig. 1.

ln said drawing, 10 denotes the wall of a car, such as Ithe end Wall ofa box car and to which my improved brake is adapted to be secured.

The improved brake, as shown, includes, broadly, a housing or casing; arota-table chain winding drum, pawl and ratchet mechanism; land theusual chain extending-to the brake beams. In the drawing, the casing isshown of cylindrical form and consists of two members 11 and 12. Themeinber 11 has a cylindrical portion and an outer vertical end wall 13.At its inner end, the member 11 is provided with a plurality of radiallyextended ears lll by which the same is adapted to be secured to thewall, as by rivets 15. The other member 12 of the casing consists of asubstantially circular at plate which |bears directly against the wallof the car. Said plate 12 is confined within the member 11 and is heldin proper position by means of an interior annular shoulder 16 on. theinterior of the member 11. Said member 11 is cut away at the bottomthereof,

Specification of Letters Patent.' lPatented Dec. 24:, '19.18.Application siea'iiugust 2o, 1917-. seriai No. 187,148.

lever 21 and thelocking dog 22, respectii'fely. I

The chain tightening member is shown in `thevform of a hollow drum 23,said drum- 23 having circular flanges 24 and near its ends' betweenwhichthe chain is wound, said flangesv rendering the drum of a somewhat spoolform.4 Said drum 23 vat, its outer end is provided with a hook-shapedlug 26 over Which'the uppermost link of the chain is hooked to-.ftherebyconnect the chain andv drum. -At said end, the drums is of consid erablylarger diameter than at its opposite lend and -is provided with a spiralchain re# Cei-ving groove 27 which gradually decreases in diameter andmerges intov the port-ion 28 of thedrum which is maintained at a uniformdiameter. With Vthisconstruction, it is obvious that at the beginning ofthe winding action, the slack in the chain is taken up at a. much 'morerapid rate than during the latter portion of the operation withoutlosing the effective leverage when the same is most required.

In orderto rotatably support the drum withoutemploying a long or throughbolt, such as has heretofore been employed, the drum 23 is provided atits inner end with a circular journal 29 which is mounted in a suitablebearing formed in the plate 12, the latter being preferably thickened,as indicated at 30, around the bearing to increase the Wearing surface.At the outer end of the drum, the latter is provided with an interiorbearing 31 which fitsover a corresponding stud 32 formed integrally onthe interior face of the Wall 13. Said lug 32 is provided with anextension or finger 33 adjacent the hook-shaped lug 26 which, when theparts are properly assembled, will prevent disengagement of the chainfrom said lug 26.

In order to rotate the drum, the latter is provided outside of theflange 25 with an integral ratchet wheel 34 with which is adapted tocoperate a pawl 35 formed at the upper end of the operating lever 21which is pivoted on a stud 36 carried on a swinging link 37, the link 37in turn being loosely mounted on a circular flange 38 formed on theextreme outer end of the drum 23.

Normally, the operating handle 21 occupies the position shown mostclearly in Figs.

1 and 2, that is, with the pawl 35 out of engagement with the ratchetwheel 311. `This position is determined by 'an extension or wing 39 onthe operating lever which engages against the inner face of the casingmember 11. When it is desired to operate the drum to wind the chain, theoperator grasps the handle 21 and pulls it in the direction indicated bythe arrow yal, in Fig., 1. This causes the pawl 35 to engage theratchetand the drum is accordingly vrotated :ndistance corresponding to the arcthrough which the lever 21 is moved. To hold the drum against accidentalbackward rotation, the lockingdog 22 is provided, the same being adaptedto engage the ratchet wheel 34, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3. Thepawl assumes this position normally under the inuence of gravity, thehandle 40 thereof over-balancing the portion of the pawl on the oppositeside of the pivot. When it is desired to release the chain, the operatordisengages the dog, as will be understood.

With the arrangement above shown and described, it is obvious that thecasing and drum are provided with integral means which coperate torotatably support the drum, thus doing away with a long bolt 'and theexpense incident thereto. Furthermore, the structure is compact and thecasing has a smooth exterior, particularly in the end wall 13, due tothe absence of any projecting bolt head or nut; The parts may berelatively cheapl manufactured and assembled without .di culty, as willbe obvious from an inspection of the drawing, particularly Fig. 2.

I claim:

In a winding mechanism of the character shaped lug, and means forrotatably sup-- porting said drum within the casing, said meansincluding a bearlng stud formed on one of said end walls, said studextending within the drum and having a finger extending adjacent saidhook-shaped lug to prevent disengagement of said link therefrom when theparts are assembled.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my namethis 29th day of July, 1917.

KEI/rrr WILLIAMS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing;the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. CJ

